Need help: 2013 Prius Certified 57K - Toyota Platinum Extended Warranty?

1) Vehicle extended warranties are usually a big waste of money!
The insurance underwriters know the failure rate of vehicle components, cost to repair such failures, and write policies to their advantage, with lots of exclusions. Vehicle extended warranties are like casinos: the house rarely pays. Read the fine print of the policy What are the exclusions? Is there a deductible? If so how much? Are OEM parts used in a repair? After a careful read, the policy will likely suck.

Read what Consumer Reports has to say about extended warranty policies for cars:
Extended Car Warranties Are an Expensive Gamble - Consumer Reports

2a) Cancel the warranty if still possible.
2b) That $2500 is better used by putting it in a savings account or amassing $2,500+ by 2023 to cover future repairs, esp a hybrid battery replacement.
2c) Ask that Finance Manager for his source and specifics of the 3.2 repairs per 100,000 miles, averaging $3,400. His $3,400 claim sounds like a HV Battery replacement. Fortunately, you are in luck, assuming Maryland is still a CARB (California Air Resource Board) participant and your friend maintains vehicle registration in Maryland. The HV Battery is the most expensive repair, hybrid owners are concerned about. If Maryland is still CARB, the warranty on the HV Battery is for 10years/150,000 miles (from vehicle first service date, essentially when the first owner registered the car)! Emissions is for 15years/150,000miles (from vehicle first service date). You should be able to get a new HV Battery dealer installed for less than $3,000 if you haggle with them; far less than $3,000 if you get Good Will assistance from Toyota Customer Care, for an out of warranty repair.
2d) Report that Finance Manager to Corporate Toyota and/or your State Consumer Agency.
2e) Finance by the dealership is where one gets screwed the most for the very reason your friend just experienced: high pressure tactics to add all kinds of stuff to the loan.
2f) She should have gotten a loan of no more than 0.9%, assuming she had a good credit score, and put at least 20% down. I say this b/c a friend played hard ball with the sales and finance manager at a Honda dealer. They gave him the "best" loan rate they could. He told them to call him if they are serious about moving the car, then left. They called him while he was driving home. This dealership wanted to hit their sales goal for the month, and this transaction would meet it. They obviously wanted to close the deal.

3) Original Gen2 owners with high mileage, nearly all seem to report low cost of ownership (gas, maintenance, and unexpected repairs).

4) Have your friend start to read PriusChat, and become more vehicle savy. This will help reduce her chances of being taken advantage of.

 

insurance is insurance. some people take comfort in it, and some don't. it's a personal decision for her. if she wants to keep it, it would behoove her to read it, because typically, not everything is covered.

 

I'm with "exstudent". It's basically a waste of money. The cost of the coverage will probably, never be recovered through life of the car. Toyota's regular warranty is pretty comprehensive as it is. I've had my car for (going on 5 yrs.) and regret buying into this scam. To add to it, you'll be paying interest on that money, if financing the car.
BTW, these warranties are not binding if you want to back out of them. There is however, a time line in which you can elect to back out.

 

I'm not up on my current geography, but isn't Maryland one of those itty-bitty little blue states up on the right coast somewhere near DC?

If so, you might be a CARB state, and you need to find out a few things like why the dealer didn't TELL her about additional warranties that apply in CARB states.
She also needs to immediately find out if the CPO (certified pre-owned) paper on this car is a FACTORY CPO program or some kind of third-party CPO scam.....kinda like they do with warranties.
Sometimes the only thing that they "certify" is that the car was previously owned.

Get her to Read Every BIT of paper that they gave her!!

OEM warranties are sometimes (though not often!) worth a little extra money.
Non-OEM warranties are NEVER worth the asking price.

Good Luck with the car, but if I woke up in your shoes this morning, I'd get her to ask her dealer some pointed questions before finishing my morning coffee, and I would advise her to cancel the "aluminum warranty."

 

I'm sure there are other brokers out there that can offer better deals than the dealer.

 

1. CARB = California Air Resources Board, so this means that you don't have to wonder is California is a CARB state. This also means that she has additional warranty coverage that she should have been informed about had the dealer not been so distracted by their efforts to shake her down by suggesting that a 3 year old Prius is undependable for daily transportation.

2. Putting the $2500 in the bank and making sure that all of the maintenance items (and ONLY the maintenance items) listed in the owner's manual are performed competently would give this person much more real-world security than a warranty with more loopholes and fine print than dot.gov healthcare.
If what she was sold is a real OEM warranty and not some third-party rip off "coverage" then I would contact somebody who doesn't get a 10-percent kickback from the sale of the "warranty" -----like Toyota customer service to see about a different plan.

Security is a groovy thing.....until you're looking at a large repair bill that's not covered.

Good Luck!!!

I smell a lot of unrefirgerated fish with this dealership....

 

Here is the closed thread about extended vehicle warranties.
Discounted Toyota Prius Extended Warranty /Service Contracts | Page 82 | PriusChat
In post 1622, it appears you need to contact PriusChat member "TOG" directly.
You can PM (Private Message) him w/in PriusChat. Or goto his profile page (TOG | PriusChat), click Information tab, for contact info.

The few instances of PriusChat members who have redeemed the extended warranty, most was for small dollar maintenance/repair items. Mechanical engine water pump on a Gen2; estimated $200-$400. 12V battery; estimated $200-$300. I only remember reading one instance where one owner lucked out, and had an expensive part (if purchased new) go out; inverter if I recall correctly. This part is near bullet proof; very few go bad. Used part $100-$300. Labor a few hundred. Total repair likely under $1K. Again, the extended warranties are a profit generator for the dealership and insurance company. The insurance company knows the odds, and pay out very little and infrequently, just like casinos.

EDIT.
Have your friend buy a magnetic drain plug and get the transaxle (think transmission) fluid, drained and filled. Flushing is not required and not likely possible, as the Prius transaxle does not contain a torque converter. This should cost $100 +/- a few dollars.
Proof/rationale for doing this non-listed maintenance item: Transaxle oil, recent analysis | PriusChat
Contact member Rude person's, to see if he still has transaxle drain plugs. If no, you could buy (goldplug)from goldplug.com or at Amazon.

Here's my goldplug post.
Magnetic oil and ATF drain plugs by Goldplug | PriusChat

Here's a good post about ATF fluid change debate for Gen3.
ATF fluid changes ARE Required. | PriusChat
Post #473 has my contribution, w/ pictures: ATF fluid changes ARE Required. | Page 24 | PriusChat

 

Yep, put the money in a slot machine. You'll probably get the same return on you money.

 

That $2,500 is a complete waste of money.

The car has three warranties: 36,000 miles, 60,000 miles, and 120,000 miles.

36,000: Everything
60,000: Engine and transmission
120,000: Hybrid battery, inverter, and emissions equipment

For $2,500, the only coverage she gets is the engine and transmission between 60-100,000 miles, and these items rarely fail in the first 100,000 miles. Maybe other repairs would be needed, but it's very rare to have one that gets up to the $2,000 range.

 

*hybrid components are 10/150 in cali.

 

Oh, I thought that 150K was only with the plug-in model.

 

they all get the same. no specific carb warranty for plug in.

 

I just bought a 2013 Prius in California. Dealer pursued me to buy the Century extended warranty as well. I slept on it, went to the dealer the next day and canceled it. Got a full refund.

For some it is hit or miss but I felt like $2500 is a waste of money.

In California you get 10 years or 150k miles on the hybrid system from original date of purchase. I felt like if anything happens in the next 100k miles, $2500 is probably more than enough to repair it.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Cancel the warranty and keep money in a repair fund.

 

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That's the best idea + you won't be paying interest on the money if it's financed into the loan

 

I own a 2013 Prius with 97,000 miles. Here is a complete list of all the repairs the car has needed so far:

1) Maintenance
2) Tires
3) Wiper blades

I would have wasted a full $2,500 on that warranty scam (unless something comes up in the next 3,000 miles -- HA!). Prius' are extremely reliable.

If she wants it to last over 200,000 miles, perform all of the NutsAboutBoltz recommended maintenance items. Don't trust what the Toyota dealer recommends, because they're the same hucksters trying to pedal an unnecessary service contract.

Tire Rotation: 5K
Oil/Filter Change 10K (Use synthetic 0w20 oil. Some replace very 5K) ($50)
Engine Air Filter Change (30K) ($20-$30)
Cabin Air Filter Change (30K) ($20)
Transaxle Fluid Change (30K) ($100)
HV Battery Fan Clean (30K, if you have pets or hair/dirt) ($60)
Brake Pin Lubricate and brake inspection (??K) ($100)
Throttle Body Cleaning (80K) ($100)
Engine Coolant drain and refill (80K ~ 100K) ($150 for both coolants)
Inverter Coolant draing and refill (80K ~ 100K)
Brake fluid flush (100K) ($100)
Spark Plugs (120K) ($200)

I estimated the prices for a shop to do these items. My estimates could be wrong but not by a whole lot. I've done nearly all of these myself. The two filters she should definitely do herself; they don't require tools. The videos show how to perform all of these items. If she just bought this car with 50K-ish miles, she should do all of the 30K service items, and I would lubricate the brake pins as well. She just needs to find a competent independent mechanic who's well trusted in the community. None of this is covered by the $2,500 extended warranty, and you can prevent those expensive repairs by taking care of these maintenance tasks.